I'm working on Marvel's Spider-Man in American comics.

Chapter 108 Long Live the Hydra!
That evening, Alexander Pierce returned to his Washington residence. He opened the door, confirmed the cleaning was finished, and went to the kitchen to open a bottle of red wine for a couple of drinks. Unexpectedly, he found someone sitting in the living room.

"Actually, I don't object to you coming over, but you should at least come at a good time, not like now, since S.H.I.E.L.D. just had a minor incident..."

Pierce walked into the dimly lit living room with a glass of red wine, only to find that the person sitting there was not the one he was expecting. He couldn't help but let out a dry laugh: "I thought it was the Winter Soldier."

“Your dwelling is not exactly safe, Alexander, haven’t you noticed that?”

Pierce sat down after being asked this question. He looked at the man in front of him, who was only a blurry human figure in the darkness. The man's voice was mocking. Pierce smiled helplessly and sat down.

“You know, theoretically, within Hydra, you, Strucker, and I are on the same level, so you didn’t need to come here in person.”

“Of course I do, Alexander. I need a little… help from S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Silently watching the man before him, Pierce took a sip of red wine, waiting for the other to toss a thin, transparent mask onto the coffee table. Pierce recognized it; it was a disguise mask used by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Then, the other person tossed out another object—a thicker-looking mask riddled with bullet holes of varying sizes. Pierce picked it up curiously and asked, "What's this?"

"The remnants of Project Three were stolen by a Russian who then went around doing dirty work, calling himself Chameleon. He died in New York not long ago, and my people found his face."

The humanoid figure in the darkness spoke slowly: "This is a very useful face, isn't it? With it, I can become anyone."

Pierce remained silent, waiting for the other person to continue with the next step. "And then what?" Pierce said. "You can become anyone. Even ordinary S.H.I.E.L.D. agents can do that. A chameleon's face may have its unique features, but it's not enough to warrant such a drastic move from this person."

"I need to...become a superhero."

Pierce understood in an instant.

"Did you have 'Spider Silk's' identity information leaked?"

“Of course.” The other person didn’t see anything wrong with this approach at all: “I think I know what you’re thinking, Pierce. I have to tell you, you’re right. Nick Fury will suspect us because of this. He’s Jack Fury’s truck driver son and Peggy Carter’s student. When it comes to familiarity and wariness towards us in this world, he’s probably the most sensitive one.”

"And at this time, you still chose to leak the information—because even Nick Fury couldn't possibly understand why Hydra would reveal information about a superhuman, especially information that the Avengers were quite interested in."

This is a smokescreen, and also a test by Hydra against Nick Fury. Whether Nick Fury is aware of Hydra's presence within S.H.I.E.L.D., and how much he knows and has investigated, are questions they need to answer.

More importantly, the information related to "Silk" is actually completely unrelated to Hydra. Therefore, even if it were leaked, the worst-case scenario would be that Nick Fury would know that Hydra already suspects him. In a better scenario, Nick Fury would inevitably become engrossed in investigating the non-existent connection between the leak of "Silk" and Hydra's interests, thus greatly diverting his attention.

This presents the person before them with the best opportunity to become a "superhero." After all, while S.H.I.E.L.D. has become a shell of Hydra, the Avengers, as a completely new organization, have no Hydra tentacles that can infiltrate them. If they can infiltrate the Avengers while Nick Fury is engrossed in his investigation, they might be able to completely dismantle the Avengers from within.

However, Pierce still didn't understand one thing. "Why the rush? Our plan is progressing very smoothly, everything is moving according to Zola's algorithm. Project Insight is proceeding in an orderly manner, and Tony Stark has helped us create his own grave." Pierce swirled his wine glass, looking at the other man through the blood-red wine: "Your sudden move will disrupt our rhythm, arouse Nick's suspicion, and may lead to the failure of Project Insight."

"Because Project Insight was destined to fail."

Pierce frowned. He had never heard of such a thing before, so he couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

“Arnim Zola’s algorithm has a fatal flaw, and this flaw is something we didn’t anticipate at all.” The other person slowly explained the reason: “The Avengers, almost every one of them broke Zola’s calculations.”

"Zola didn't foresee that gamma rays could turn a scientist into a green monster, nor did he foresee that Stark could break through the limits of his arrogant father, develop new elements, and survive. Zola didn't foresee a god descending to earth with his hammer, and he certainly didn't expect that an impossible scientist would actually break through the law of conservation of energy to grow bigger and smaller."

Every member of the Avengers makes Arnim Zola's supposed algorithm for predicting the future seem like a joke, including the alien invasion in the Battle of New York and Spider-Man and Silk, two successful experiments of Project 2.

And for Hydra, the most crucial one.

Their calculations did not include the variable that their mortal enemy, Captain America, was still alive. When the Avengers were added to the algorithm as a variable in Hydra's plan, Hydra began to realize that their grand future had become a complete illusion.

Therefore, to create Hydra's world of absolute order and no freedom, the Avengers must be eliminated.

And what could be easier than becoming a superhero and infiltrating their ranks to eliminate the enemy?

Pierce's brow relaxed as he realized he had a brilliant idea, a perfect way to make a heroic entrance. He smiled and extended his hand to the man before him.

"Tell me your character profile, and I'll prepare your identity information. I'm looking forward to the birth of a brand new superhero."

"Long live Hydra."

In the darkness, the silhouette remained motionless as it spoke.

"Long live Hydra."

Alexander Pierce raised his glass, smiled at the other man, then downed it in one gulp and called out his name.

Baron Zemo.

　Zemo uses a character design closer to the comics than the MCU, one of the leaders of Hydra.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)